BANGKOK: Thousands of protesters rallied in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, piling pressure on a government at risk of collapse over a border dispute with neighbouring Cambodia.
In the largest such rally since the ruling Pheu Thai party came to power in 2023, crowds braved heavy monsoon rain to demonstrate against Paetongtarn, 38, who is also battling to revive a faltering economy and keep a fragile coalition together ahead of a potential no confidence vote next month.
“She should step aside because she is the problem,” Parnthep Pourpongpan, a protest leader, said.
The latest dispute started with a skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia over a disputed patch of border territory in May. Thai nationalist groups called for Paetongtarn to go after she appeared to criticize a Thai army commander and kowtow to Cambodia’s former leader, Hun Sen, in a leaked phone call with him.
Public criticism of the army is a red line in a country where the military has significant clout. Paetongtarn apologised for her comments after the call.
Parnthep, the protest leader, said many Thai people felt the prime minister and her influential father, Thaksin Shinawatra, were being manipulated by Hun Sen, a former ally of the family who has turned against them.
‘UNG ING, GET OUT’
Blocking the busy intersection at Victory Monument, a war memorial, crowds including many elderly people waved flags bearing Thailand’s national tricolor.
“Ung Ing, get out,” the crowd occasionally chanted in unison, calling the premier by a nickname.
